Roy Blunt

Madam President, in calculating, it may be possible that I have served on the Intel Committee longer than anybody besides Richard Burr currently on the committee, with some time in the House--but not all of the time in the House--and in the Senate. It is truly amazing the depth of understanding he has of programs, of

capacity, of the places we are all over the world.

I think he and Senator Warner have done a great job of maintaining that committee as a bipartisan committee, working together, understanding that most of what we do and that most of what we talk about is only seen by us and the staff of that committee. It is an important responsibility to ask questions and hear answers that others Members can't. Richard's leadership has been incredible.

I want to spend a few minutes talking about the other portfolio he has that I am also involved in as the appropriating chairman on the Health and Education and Labor Committee.

In so many ways, particularly after COVID, Richard, we became the team--the authorizing and the appropriating--so we could make this all work together.

Efforts are extraordinary as well. We heard the long list of things he did to create an understanding of what we needed to do--the whole idea of rapid response, of BARDA, of having a stockpile. All of this is--not only is so much of it Richard's idea, but also Richard has kept the idea alive.

I will just tell you this is from absolute personal and occasional knowledge in the press--they are wondering: Now, why are you still spending that money on the stockpile? We didn't use it last year, and we didn't use it the year before. Why do you think we need to have things in that stockpile that are usable and have efficacy now?

Richard has been there. Often, the only people advocating for the stockpile, advocating for being ready for things we hope don't happen, are the manufacturers who are willing to manufacture this and Richard Burr and others--that very small group of people who say: We have got to be ready.

Now we are talking about, with Richard's leadership again, being ready in other ways, where we are ready to manufacture and have a rapid response like we did with COVID, where we now, maybe, have the capacity to figure out very quickly what we need and produce that, but you have to have the kind of relationship to have that rapid production.

You know, when something like this happens, everybody is willing to do everything, and, frankly, everybody is willing to spend everything, but that is likely too late. You have to be willing to plan everything and be prepared to execute a plan rather than ``Now we have a problem; let's do whatever it takes.'' Richard Burr has been there in thinking about how we plan, how we prepare, what kind of relationships we need to have.

On top of that, the biomedical research and the new interest in synthetic biology--so much of that leaves this building and this floor when Richard leaves. I think there are so many ways he can be and will be available to the country and will be a service to the country, but showing up every day, in every Congress, in every session, and to every meeting with the knowledge he has brought to those issues is incredibly important.

We see the possibility of health used in a warlike way. We see the interest and the need to look into this to see what has happened or what could happen. Let me just say that, from the Health, Education, and Labor job that I have had, I have been able to see, maybe like nobody else has, the Health, Education, and Labor commitment and understanding he has. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for his friendship.

I look forward to things he and I could continue to find to do together, but I am grateful for the fact that he has been here when he was so needed and stepped up in such a significant way.

Our good friend Lamar Alexander on that committee, in the height of COVID, also very close to both of us, was very dedicated to this work. When Lamar left, I said one of the things I am most grateful for is that I got to serve in the Senate that included Lamar Alexander. I am also grateful that I got to serve in the Senate that included Richard Burr.

Madam President, a moment ago when I saw Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy shake hands warmly in the middle of the aisle, I thought of it as a century of service in the Congress. It is a century of learning lessons that fortunately they have both been able to share with us.

I mentioned in my farewell remarks the other day Senator Shelby and Senator Leahy and how, working with both of them on the Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee, I learned so much from them. But I was reminded today--I have heard a number of these speeches in the time I have been in the Senate, and I don't think anybody ever has reminded us quite so well of the oath we take--the oath we take to the Constitution, the oath we take to do this job as well as we can, and the promise we make, frankly, to find a solution.

It is a lot easier in Washington these days and in the Senate it is a lot easier to find a fight than it is to find a solution. We have kind of fallen into a place where so many people now run for office talking about what they will never do. Frankly, when you start talking about what you will never do, that usually takes us out of the conversation of what can be done, and if anybody here has been a determined participant in finding what could be done, it is Senator Shelby.

That certainly does not mean that he gives in easily. Many times I have been asked by other Members or the press: What do you think Senator Shelby is thinking about this final deal? I would say: I don't know what he is thinking,

but I know he is thinking, and I know we are not going to find out what he is thinking until he is ready to tell us what he is thinking. But he is trying to figure out a way to come to a conclusion that can actually solve the problem. And in the appropriating process, that problem is usually keeping the government in business.

The other thing I have noticed especially about Senator Shelby is how often he is willing to share things that he hears from his family. His older sister used to--I would hear from him: Well, I got advice from my older sister. And I must think--I am wondering, Well, how old is your oldest sister? So I would usually ask him and be reminded of that.

But I benefit from the advice too. Just like his sister was calling him and saying whatever it was they were talking about that day, he was always talking about his sons and always talking about Mrs. Shelby. You know, I have such great respect for her.

He said to me: You know, you are married to a strong woman too.

I said: Yes, I am.

He said: We better not forget it.

And he hasn't forgotten it, nor has he forgotten to appreciate her and brag on her and understand what an important part of his life and his career she has been. I hope I have learned something from that as well.

Team Shelby is pretty good. You know, Richard has surrounded himself with people who have stayed in his working orbit. They may go from one committee to another or maybe they stay right where they are, being sure they keep him on time. Maybe they find out that if you are going to travel, you are going to travel in a way that absolutely reaches the diplomatic conclusion and the helpful conclusion for the country and Alabama it was designed to make. So I have always been a big respecter of Team Shelby as well.

I was particularly impressed to watch Team Shelby--whether they knew it or not, they just produced their own Senator. I think Katie Britt is going to be a great Member of the Senate. One of the reasons is she was such an important part of Senator Shelby's efforts here. He listened to her, she listened to him, and when it came time to step up, I don't think any Member in the Senate who I am aware of has ever made a greater commitment to try to be sure that they were replaced by somebody who would do the best possible job of following their legacy for the State.

It has been wonderful for me to get to be on the Appropriations Committee and the Rules Committee and work with Senator Shelby but also all the many times we have had just to talk about what is going on that day, what was going on with his family, what was happening with his staff.

I am glad to be here today and share with him how much I benefited from the great friendship we have had but more importantly the great example and to be reminded again of our oath to the Constitution and the importance of being a problem-solver rather than being the person who always wants to talk about the problem. Richard always wants to solve the problem, and the country is better for that, and so is the Senate.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, you know, it is often said here that everything has been said, but not everybody has said it yet.

(Laughter.)

This is actually a case where everything won't be said today and can't be said. The remarkable legislative accomplishments that Rob has made are truly that--they are just remarkable.

When we were serving early in the House together, there was this big retirement bill. I thought, for a while, of Senator Portman that then- Congressman Cardin's first name was ``Portman'' because it was all about the Portman-Cardin Act, the Portman-Cardin ``this and that.''

(Laughter.)

I had a little piece we were able to put in that was called the SIMPLE Plan. Maybe that is because the only thing I understood was the SIMPLE Plan. It was a helpful plan, but we probably wouldn't have gotten it done if Rob hadn't been constantly making the legislative things happen that he makes happen.

As I have said in my remarks, I have never served on a committee with Rob Portman, in the House or in the Senate, in our more than 20 years of working together, but I have probably spent more time with him in meetings, as we have tried to figure out how to move forward, than I have with almost anybody else, whether they had been the House leadership meetings or have been the Senate leadership meetings. I knew so much about Rob that not only did Abby I and really know and appreciate the friendship with him and Jane--and I knew their kids--but there was a while when I knew the names of both of their dogs. That shows that you spend a lot of time with somebody if you know the names of both of their dogs. I did that with Rob.

He has done so well here. I was the whip in the House when Rob was the U.S. Trade Ambassador, and those trade bills are always hard to get done no matter how easy it seems. There was the Central American trade deal that we took to the floor, and like with so many was the case, we just decided: OK. Now is the time to go. I think we are going to get this done today. The work is good. Now we have just got to get the Members willing to go home and admit that they did this.

Trade agreements are good for the country, but often Members don't want to talk about them when they get home because you can always find, somewhere, somebody in your State who might think you could have done a better job in negotiating part of this.

Then there is another thing, I think, that Rob and I had in common and understood. I just heard today, on NewsRadio, while I was driving in this morning, their talking about the new, highly competitive States. They mentioned, for decades, Missouri and Ohio were always considered to be the two bellwether States. Those were the two States. I think, in our State, for 100 years, we voted for the Presidential winner every time but one. Ohio had about that same record.

We have also seen a political transition in our States--where they have gone from highly competitive, where you are really out there in so many

ways on your own when running for office, to where the parties have changed in ways that we may appreciate more than a lot of other people here would.

I had not thought about the support group. I am not sure--I hope I don't need that--but I sure do need and hope to have the additional time to continue our great friendship and times to talk. As several people have said, you always listen when Rob talks because he knows what he is talking about. That is a relatively rare currency anywhere-- even in the U.S. Senate.

I hope we are going to spend enough time together that we won't miss each other, but, certainly, I will miss the times we have had to work together on both sides of the building. It was sometimes when you were with the administration and I was here, but congratulations on what you have done for America and what you have done for your family and the future of the country.

I yield the floor.